Reviews on the Best 23 Photo Editors for Professionals and Beginners

Nowadays, the popularity of social media photo sharing is showing no signs of fading away. Everyone (students, entrepreneurs, working class, painters, directors, ...) could post and share his everyday images and videos on different social platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and others. The challenge now is how to make satisfied photos if you want to appeal to your fans or customers, or you just want to organize and edit photos to make them more cooler, then you are happy about that.

That's why you need a photo editor!

A right photo editing software has magical magic to transform your ordinary images into something spectacular. Which is your right image editor? I tested some popular picture editing software and sort out the top 23 here. No matter which level you are in photo editing, after you read this article, you will know which photo editor is for you.

A Highly Recommend Photo Editor (for Professionals & Amateurs)

Filmora Video Editor for Windows (or Filmora Video Editor for Mac) is designed for both professional and beginners. It has all the features in it and it is the best said for photo editing. On the other hand, with detailed guideline, it can be handled very quickly, a novice video editor can also use it very well and still get the best results.

List-2. Top 5 Professional Photo Editor for Mac and Windows PC

The battle between the Photoshop and the light room is always an epic battle. It was the first to be introduced and still being at the top and it is the first choice among the users who are looking to edit their image. But, then the Adobe lght rOOM comes with some cool and fantastic features seemed similar but also different than Photoshop. Light room has always been striven to improve their photos to the next level by developing them at anywhere cropping, tinning, toning, saturating, and of course can edit the photo like a new image or like an old vintage picture with the effects and edits.

Pros:

• You can process RAW files and presets.
• There is an efficient workflow and easier to learn.
• There is little top editing software for video as well as for photo editing that will help you make your images so professional with the way you edit.

Cons:

• The retouching application doesn't found.
• There is no advanced image manipulation.

Adobe Photoshop is a pixel based on professional photography editing software. In Photoshop, when you edit your pictures you will have the control for each pixel to edit. It is dedicated to the 64-bit version of the windows. Editing not only means editing the image by changing the picture to the background or the background to the picture. It's also about enhancing only the original image by toning, cropping, saturating, highlighting, etc.

Pros:

• Availability of retouching and layers.
• You can composite, blend and process content aware fill.

Cons:

• It is expensive in cost.
• No workflow centric and steep learning curve.
• It doesn't have the RAW editor application.

While we are on the subject of free image editing tools, the best one of any image editors is GIMP. If you can figure out how to use this program, it comes with more features than any of the other image editing programs we've seen. Because it has so many features, it may be the ideal tool to help you edit couple photos since they are more likely to keep both subjects intact. GIMP supports nearly all types image formats including PSD which means you can begin a project in Photoshop and complete it in GIMP. It is also one of the most updated programs. The main reason for this is the community of developers that are constantly coming up with new plugins for the program.

Pros:

• It is program that is completely free to use; you'll never have to pay for any of the features.
• Constant updates and new plugins mean that there is always a new feature to learn.
• It comes with some of the most advanced editing tools, allowing you to make changes to any image.
• It supports a wide array of image formats.

Cons:

• It is not that easy to use. When you first open GIMP it can be difficult figuring out where all the tools are. But it is totally worth it.

If you are looking for a couple photo editors that will do more than just crop an image, PhotoScape might be a good choice. This photo editor comes with all the basic and advanced features but it also does so much more. You can use it to create incredible slideshows using your images or even create animated GIFs. In fact, it is its ability to easily create one of a kind animated GIFs that makes this tool one of the most popular photo editors.

Pros:

• It has all the common editing tools you need.
• It also comes with added features for creating slideshows and GIFs.
• You can also use it to capture screenshots or combine and split images.
• It allows users to fully customize the program itself. You can change the toolbars to be just the way you want it.

This photo editing software for Windows is extremely easy for any user as it does not confuse the user in finding tools, rather this software is splitted into 6 different sections for different tools. This division helps the customer for better understanding of usage of the tools for experienced and non- experienced personalities. This software comes with a user guide for easy understanding of the user and helps to edit your images more efficiently and with less effort.

Pros:

• User can easily organize pictures according to their choice.
• Anyone can find many online video tutorials for better understanding of this software.

Cons:

• Mac users cannot use this software as it is not compatible.
• Only five types of files for editing.
• The software does not provide vector graphic tools for editing.

This photo editor for windows provide all kind of advanced tool which will surely be loved by all the users even if they are beginners or pros in editing. For all the experienced photographer and graphic designers this software is heavenly because it provides awesome tools for editing with content aware tools, HDR tools EXIF data and much more. Infact this windows photo editor is very cheap and payment is also relatively easier than any other photo editors. There is no subscription method needed for payment just direct payment online and everything is settled.

Pros:

• More thorough edits are available with the advanced layer tool.
• The interface is very user friendly for both pros and beginners.

Cons:

• The customer help support is not that good.
• The software doesn't give you any printing project assets.
• It doesn't come with a photo organizing software.

This is a more professional photo editing tool and as such may only be ideal for professional photographers. Its features are numerous and designed for the more astute user. But that means that it can be quite difficult to use for the average user.

Pros:

• It comes packed with professional photo editing tools that are unique to it.
• It automatically catalogues images to provide a comprehensive image organizer.

Cons:

• It is very difficult to use for the beginner user.
• It is also quite expensive.

With this Mac photo editor, you can crop, rotate and enhance the color of any image using its saturation, hue and brightness tools. It also comes with a photo organizer that may come in handy when you have to edit too many photos at a given time. Its many filters allow users to alter a photo by adding a sepia tone or converting it to black and white.

Pros:

• It is very easy to use with a wide range of advanced features.
• It has a built in image organizer.

Acorn is a photo editor for Mac that comes with a comprehensive tool set, enabling both basic and advanced editing of all file formats. It also comes with built-in sharing capabilities that can allow you to post your edited creations to any social media. With constant enhancements, this app provides a simple, yet effective way to edit photos.

Pros:

• It comes with a wide-array of both basic and advanced tools for editing photo.
• It has in-built sharing capabilities.
• Works with any image formats.

Cons:

• It lacks a photo organizer.

List-3. Top 10 Simple Photo Editor for Beginners

Photo editing programs like Adobe Photoshop and GIMP make the process of editing photos look and feel, difficult and cumbersome. Without at least a few hours of training, making heads or tails of either one of these giants of photo editing can be quite difficult. But this doesn't mean that you have to postpone whatever editing project you have until you can learn how to use Photoshop or GIMP.

There are other simpler photo editing programs (some of them are online photo editors) that are just as reliable with less complexity.

The Nik collection is a suite of online simple photo editor that is designed to help you turn your image into a work of art. With its seven plugins, the suite of tools provides one of the most powerful image editing tools that is also quite easy to use. Each of its plugins is designed to perform a single task, making it easier for the user to pick a solution for what they're trying to accomplish. For example, the Sharpener Pro and Dfine plugins are designed to improve clarity and noise reduction. The best thing about this suite of tools is you can choose to download only the tool you need or the entire suite and it is completely free to use.

Pros:

• It is completely free to use.
• Each of the seven plugins is meant to perform a single task, making it easier to use even for the beginner.
• It is constantly getting upgraded so you can expect the suite of tools to get even better.

Cons:

• When you choose to download only the plugins you need, you may limit the editing capability you have.

This is a simple photo editing software that has a specialty; special effects. Because there are so many special effects to choose from HitFilm express becomes a really good image editor. It also has both 2D and 3D compositing as well as over 180 effects to choose from.

Pros:

• Like most other apps on this list, its user interface makes it very easy to use.
• With more than 800,000 users, it is also one of the most popular video editing apps in the business.
• It offers a wide range of visual effects to choose from so much so that you editing project is only limited by your imagination.

Cons:

• As it is primarily a video editing tool, it may not be very easy to do more comprehensive image editing as it lacks some features.

This online image editing software has an interface looks similar to Photoshop except that it is easier to use. One of the main reasons why the simple photo editor is so easy to use has a lot to do with the minimalistic design that is meant to show you where all the tools are. This design also means that you spend less time trying to figure out where the editing tools are located and more time actually editing the image. It also has a downloadable program that is no different from the online tool.

Pros:

• Its minimalistic design makes it one of the easiest online image editing tools you can use.
• It has multiple image editing tools including masking tools, selection tools and layers.
• It also has a downloadable program for those who would rather edit their projects offline.

Cons:

• It may look like Photoshop but it lacks the more advanced features you’d find on Photoshop.

If like a simple photo editor that does most of the design work for you automatically, this online tool is the one to choose. With features that are reminiscent of Microsoft Paint, this program has managed to automate the editing process by applying effects to the entire photo rather than having you select and manually edit the photo. Most functions are done at the click of a button including cropping, rotating, changing the exposure and a lot of other functions. You’ll also find a whole host of other editing tools including contrast; brightness and hue as well blemish and wrinkle removing tools and a few tools to add make-up and cosmetic fixes.

Pros:

• It is very easy to use and readily available as an online tool.
• Its automatic photo editing features make it ideal for time-saving editing tweaks that can be completed quickly.
• It offers a wide array of editing features, all of which are accessible in a single-click.

Cons:

• It lacks an undo button, thereby making it very difficult to go back when you make a mistake.
• The automatic editing feature can also be a disadvantage when you need to apply an effect to only a section of the photo.
• Not being able to manually edit the photo can staunch creativity.

This free image editing software is one of the best tools to edit couple photos. It may be free, but Fotor comes packed with some of the best photo editing tools to help you quickly add effects, filters and so many other tools. With over 50 different filters, you can never have two projects that look alike. It is also one of the easiest to use. You can make all the changes you need in a few single taps and the interface is not all that bad.

Pros:

• It comes with a simple user interface, ideal for even the greenest of beginners.
• Finding and using the tools on this program only takes a few taps.
• You can also use it blur images and create miniature landscapes.

It has been an innovator in the field of photo editing. They can use their camcorders for documenting events and vacation pictures that can be finally edited into beautiful video. It is creative software which offers a huge variety of video products and some optimal video editing software's also. It has added more feature enhancement and improvements. Some used to enjoy editing their own videos, so this will be the best either for beginners or for professionals.

Pros:

• It has a wide range of basic and advanced features to choose from.
• Its user interface is ideal for the beginner user.

Cons:

• The program itself may take a while to download.
• It is not regularly updated.

This windows picture editor software is very easy to use for the beginners as it comes with some automatic editing tools for easy editing. It also gives the user some hands on tools which allow the user to adjust, drag or resize the image as he wants. The Smart Photo Fix tool allows the user to compare the edited picture with the original picture and then the user can decide on more editing features he needs to add for a better experience. It is an overall awesome windows 7 photo editor.

Pros:

• They have also provided many useful tutorials for easy understanding.
• The user can arrange their pictures whichever way they want to.
• This windows photo editor software is very easy to use even for beginners.

Cons:

• No perfect tool for creating animated GIFs.
• This photo editor for windows is not compatible with Mac.
• It does not allow to post online directly from the software.

If you are new to the world of photo editing, PhotoPad Photo Editor provides the best learning tool. It's simple to user interface enables users to find all the tools they need quite easily and as the name suggests, it is also accessible on the iPad. It comes with standard tools like crop, select, zoom, draw and paint.

Pros:

• It is very easy to use with a simple and clean user interface.
• It is accessible on tablets.
• Comes with most of the basic photo editing tools you need.

Cons:

• It lacks a photo organizer and some of the more advanced photo editing capabilities.

This Mac photo editor is one of the easiest to use. It comes with the most basic of photo editing tools that include erase, retouch and adjust tools and is quite easy to use and learn. You can also use one of its many color filters to completely alter a photo.

Pros:

• It comes with several great photo editing tools.
• It has a pleasing user interface that is easy to use.
• You can use it as a standalone program or as a plugin on another photo editing program.

Cons:

• It lacks some of the more advanced features like the ability to use layers.

Pixelmator 3.3 offers a relatively inexpensive tool with a huge array of both basic and advanced photo editing capabilities. Among the tools you can get with this editor include color management, different selection tools and background removal capabilities.

Pros:

• It has a very effective background removal tool.
• Supports a variety of different image formats.
• The interface is easy to use even for the beginner.

Do you want to enhance the look of your pictures? For example, background, picture quality by adding little photo editor color effects using various variants in terms of color complexes, smoky visualization, adding some interesting cartoon character and features and lot more by photo editor effects. Overall, the image alteration with color, smoke, cartoon and drawing works out with standardization of photo editors and effects. It is being the one among other challenges in front of viewer and editor. Moreover, it is tough to bring out the smoky and cartoonist – people love the most.

With the finger swipe of snapsee application – you can get the digital appearances and visual effects. There were around 15 varieties of effects available in snapseed. It has the automatic and manual method to add the color, smoke, photo editor drawing effect and cartoons. Just framing your picture using the snapseed gives the perfect saturation point and ambiance look to the images.

Pros:

• It has certain effects interior such as grunge, vintage, retrolux, HDR scape and drama.
• You can compare the original image and modified image instantly.

Cons:

• Mostly, the tools will be hidden inside the application.
• You have to swipe from top to bottom to read the features.

To observer the capacity of tools – we recommend to use Befunky. This photo editors and effects has the feature to crop, sharp, bright, rotate and straighten the images. It has the numerous choices in borders and text tool to add the photo editor blood effects instantly. You can retrieve the images in past by accessing the thumbnail notification.

Pros:

• You can add the temperature, hue, brightness and exposure to the images.
• The whitener tool, removal of red eye and wrinkle remover tool are available.

Cons:

• Installation takes time to manipulate the images.
• You have to analyze the tools deeply before accessing it.

This picture editor is quite interesting to add the images from your account in Facebook. This application is available with the background theme. You can crop the image and then add the effects like color, smoke, drawing and cartoon etc. It gives the layer support where you can add multiple layers in one image itself.

Pros:

• It has four size of brush to paint the image color.
• You can move the sticker as per your requirements.

Cons:

• You have to purchase the sticker once if free stickers used.
• You have the option only to choose the pixel size from the default list and degrees.

The Finish Line

After review these 23 photo editors listed in this article, have you chosen the one which is intended for you?

Actually, picking out the right photo editing software for yourself is not tough. Nothing says that professionals shouldn't use entry-level photograph editing tools or that the beginners are not qualified to use powerful editors like Photoshop and GIMP. When you start photo editing, you should know what kind of effects you need (check whether the selected picture editor has the effects and wanted functions), the operation system of your deivce (some users like to edit photos on smartphones), then go to take the right photo editor software.